mulberryshoots

I don’t think I really noticed how things had dissembled while both I and my husband have been so laid up for the past months and weeks. We put forth a lot of positive energy to travel up to Rockport for our granddaughter, A.’s high school graduation. It took about a week to finally unpack everything and to return some things with tags still on them that I decided not to wear. In fact, it was enlightening to me that during the “before” timeframe, thought I might want to wear more color and more prints. During that weekend, I felt more comfortable wearing my trusty LL Bean comfort trail khaki cropped pants and a dark blue linen v-neck tee-shirt. My new Birkenstock black leather sandals dressed up my outfit enough.

Since then, G. has been in almost constant pain with a dislocated bone in his hip area. Even though there were ultrasound treatments and a little adjustment to his vertebrae, he still has the dislocation and concomitant muscle and nerve pain radiating down his hip to his knee. We tried acupuncture yesterday and while it alleviated a little pain, it didn’t do the job. Today, he also had some ortho-massage for an hour and fifteen minutes which he felt might have improved things. At lunch, the color in his face was so much better–probably from the benefits of the massage to his circulatory system. Even so, any improvement was better than the stagnant situation he faced for the past couple of weeks.

In the meantime, we managed to try out and purchase an extra-firm mattress which is scheduled to arrive tomorrow morning. Today, I took on all sorts of straightening out tasks and coordinated having some handicap equipment carried downstairs by G.’s guys who were here to help with a piano move; getting the strings for the morning glories retied to bricks so that the watered seedlings would be trained where to travel as their growth bursts forth during the warm weather. I also rearranged the kitchen cupboard so that things we use more often are now more accessible and tucked extra glasses and cups in the tall cupboard.

rearranged cupboard today . . .

On a roll, I sorted out the bookstand that holds current magazines (Bon Appetit) and books “Bringing Nature Home,” a gorgeous flower/decorating book and one of my favorite books to derive housecleaning inspiration from, “Japanese Country Living.”

Cleaned out the small basket of mish-mash papers, stamps and miscellany next to my telephone/answering machine; AND, I spent more than two hours on the phone this morning with Apple Support, escalating all the way up to a senior advisor who helped me delete all sorts of start-up programs to rid my laptop of those annoying spinning balls that slow things down.

She also advised me to keep my laptop on a flat wooden table (not a leather ottoman) in order to keep it from overheating as it has been doing. I’ve had two major (send laptop to Memphis, TN) repairs made to the machine during the winter and spring, and wanted to ensure that if there was a further problem with the fan and overheating, that I would make it under the warranty window. We’ll wait and see but the laptop is much quicker afterwards than before so my fingers are crossed.

I don’t know if it’s awfully tedious for you to read about these mundane activities and if so, my apologies. However, I’ve begun to feel, just today, that maybe we aren’t just going to keep descending into a vortex of helplessness and even, that maybe, things might get a little better, day by day. G.’s nephew came by this afternoon (he’s a senior in college) and we talked about some projects that he could help with this summer. Fetching a bunch of liquor store empty cartons, bringing them upstairs here so that I can fill them with books to be donated to our public library would be a good start. Then, we’ll figure out how to clean out the pantry and the closets where I have things that are too good to give away and also a pain in the neck to sell on eBay. I might try it though because if I am incentivized to at least take a thorough inventory, it might be the most common sense way to truly clean things out.

So, the morning glories are planted, staked and watered (it’s taken us this long just to get someone to turn on the water valve to the outside faucets!) the bathroom detritus has been cleared out and the sink/shelves sparkle; the laundry is done, brought up by C. and folded by me; the books/magazines have been de-cluttered from our living space; the big kitchen table made of curly maple is also cleared off with a vintage Katazome indigo runner on it (a tortoise and a phoenix gracing the pattern.) I brought the big cherry tray with pottery etc. into the bedroom as a way station until we feel like having it out again.

Supper is already made: I browned some onions and ground beef to make homemade sloppy joes for dinner, served on wheat toast and accompanied by some deviled eggs. We still have some yummy strawberry-rhubarb compote that we’ve been eating for dessert with some Haagen Daz ice cream. I don’t know why my spirits are so lifted after a day of what might be interpreted as drudgery house-keeping tasks, but it’s because it LOOKS wonderful in here now, or at least much better than it has in a long time. So onward and upward, as they say. Nothing stays the same, even when things seem abysmal . . . and that’s a good thing, as Martha Stewart might add.

everything’s coming up roses! (or at least a few might be . . .)